Each week, we search New York City for the most exciting, and thought-provoking, shows, screenings, and events. See them below.

Tuesday, April 24

1. “Artists Studio: Matana Roberts” at the Park Avenue Armory
Composer and musician Matana Roberts will be performing her new piece, blood blue(s): a remembrance at the Park Avenue Armory for work she describes as “panoramic sound-quilting.” Blending distinctive singing, probing text, and visual imagery with her renown skills as a saxophonist to create soundscapes that defy all convention. “Matana Roberts: jump at the sun,” a solo exhibit of the artist’s visual pieces, is on view through Wednesday, April 25 at Fridman Gallery, located at 287 Spring St.

Location: Thompson Arts Center at Park Avenue Armory, 643 Park Avenue in the Veterans Room
Price: $45
Time: 7 p.m. & 9 p.m.

—Caroline Goldstein

Tuesday, April 24–Sunday, July 22

2. “Painted in Mexico, 1700–1790: Pinxit Mexici” at the Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Met spotlights the oft-overlooked artistic output of New Spain, 18th-century Mexico. The title is taken from the Latin phrase for “painted in Mexico,” and was used by many artists of the period in their signatures, demonstrating their pride in the growing artistic traditions of the colony. Many of the 110 works on view have never been publicly exhibited. The exhibition—the first of its kind—is co-organized by the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and Fomento Cultural Banamex and originally part of Pacific Standard Time: LA/LA.

Location: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1000 Fifth Avenue
Price: $25
Time: Sunday–Thursday, 10 a.m.–5:30 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 10 a.m.–9 p.m.

—Sarah Cascone

Wednesday, April 25

3. “Artist Talk: Painting/Object” at the FLAG Art Foundation
Artists from the FLAG Art Foundation’s 10th-anniversary exhibit, “Painting/Object” will be in conversation with writer Jacoba Urist. Sarah Crowner, Sam Moyer, Julia Rommel, and Erin Shirreff are all contemporary artists whose work is informed by Ellsworth Kelly and his distinct style.

Location: FLAG Art Foundation, 545 West 25th Street, 9th floor
Price: Free with RSVP
Time: 6 p.m.–8 p.m.

—Caroline Goldstein

Thursday, April 26

4. “ArtTable’s 25th Annual Benefit and Awards” at 536 Park Avenue
For its 25th annual benefit, ArtTable, dedicated to the promotion of professional women leaders in the visual arts, honors gallerist Marian Goodman, who just celebrated her 40th anniversary as a dealer, and curator Naima J. Keith of the California African American Museum. Johnnetta Betsch Cole, director emerita of the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art in Washington, DC, will give the keynote speech.

Location: 536 Park Avenue
Price: $425
Time: 11 a.m.–2 p.m.

—Sarah Cascone

 

Thursday, April 26–Friday, June 1

5. “Tracey Moffatt: Vigils” at Tyler Rollins Fine Art 
The artist’s third solo exhibition at the gallery features Body Remembers, a series of 10 large-scale photographs, and the single-channel video, Vigil. The works debuted to wide acclaim as part of Moffatt’s solo presentation for the Australian Pavilion at the 2017 Venice Biennale. This marks the first time they have been shown outside of Venice

Location: Tyler Rollins Fine Art, 529 West 20th Street 10W, New York
Price: Free
Time: Opening reception, 6 p.m.–8 p.m.; Tuesday–Saturday, 10 a.m.–6 p.m.

—Eileen Kinsella

Thursday, April 26–Friday, June 29

6. “Moon Dancers: Yup’ik Masks and the Surrealists” at Di Donna Gallery
Di Donna has teamed up with Donald Ellis Gallery, experts in North American Indian art, to present this exhibition pairing Surrealist art with rare 20th-century Yup’ik masks from the central Alaskan coast, which were collected by the likes of André Breton, Enrico Donati, Robert Lebel, Matta, Kay Sage, and Isabelle Waldberg. The shows will illustrate how these masks inspired the Surrealists both in style and in subject matter, imbuing their works with the same mysticism as the native masks.

Location: Di Donna Gallery, 744 Madison Avenue
Price: Free
Time: Opening reception, 6 p.m.–8 p.m.; Tuesday–Friday,10 a.m.–6 p.m.; Saturday, 12 p.m.–6 p.m.

—Sarah Cascone

Thursday, April 26–Sunday, July 10

7. “Mara de Luca: Talisman” at TOTAH
Los Angeles artist Mara de Luca’s unique take on traditional Abstract Expressionist painting incorporates references to communist propaganda and fashion advertising into her layered canvases. Her first New York show includes mixed-media paintings and one moving-image work.

Location: TOTAH, 183 Stanton Street
Price: Free
Time: Opening reception, 6 p.m.–8 p.m.; Wednesday–Sunday, 11 a.m.–6 p.m.

—Sarah Cascone

Thursday, April 26–Monday, July 23

8. “David Salle: Paintings 1985–1993” at Skarstedt
Skarstedt presents historic work by David Salle from an important, prolific period of his career. With his use of photography and collage, Salle’s paintings of the 1980s bridge the divide between that decade’s Pictures Generation and simultaneous return to abstract painting.

Location: Skarstedt, 20 East 79th Street
Price: Free
Time: Opening reception, 6 p.m.–8 p.m.; Tuesday–Saturday, 10 a.m.–6 p.m.

—Sarah Cascone

Thursday, April 26–Friday, July 27

9. “Math Bass: My Dear Dear Letter” at Mary Boone Gallery
Math Bass’s recent paintings are a continuation of an ongoing project in which she deconstructs and reconstitutes letters to form a geometric shape. The title of the series, “Newz!” is a nod to her practice—the letter N becomes a Z when rotated, and a capital E turned sideways becomes a W.

Location: Mary Boone Gallery, 745 Fifth Avenue
Price: Free
Time: Opening reception, 6 p.m.–8 p.m.; Tuesday–Saturday, 10 a.m.–6 p.m.

—Caroline Goldstein

Friday, April 27–Saturday, June 2

10. “Sarah Peters: Figureheads” at Van Doren Waxter

Sarah Peters continues with her series of bronze sculptures depicting stylized men and women whose features reference ancient deities and funerary masks. In the titular Figurehead bust, the angular face and sheaf of wavy hair allude to Egyptian illustration, but as the artist notes, the hollowed eyes and perennial O-faced lips are not unlike a blow-up sex doll.

Location: Van Doren Waxter, 195 Chrystie Street
Price: Free
Time: Opening reception, 6 p.m.–8 p.m.; Tuesday–Saturday, 10 a.m.–6 p.m.

—Caroline Goldstein

11. “Laurie Simmons: 2017 | The Mess and Some New” at Salon 94
Fresh off the release of her first feature film, Laurie Simmons returns to photography for her third solo show at Salon 94: “2017: The Mess and Some New.” As its title suggests, the exhibition brings together a couple of the artist’s recent bodies of work. “Some New,” comprises colorful portraits of family and friends in which parts of each subject’s appearance are substituted with painted facsimiles. The Mess, the centerpiece of the show, is a monumental, 20-foot-long photograph of discarded plastics—food containers, household objects, tchotchkes—arranged by color, like a rainbow of consumerist waste.

A simultaneous exhibition, “Laurie Simmons: Clothes Make the Man | Works From 1990–1994,” will be on view at Mary Boone Gallery, 541 West 24th Street, April 27–July 27.

Location: Salon 94, 243 Bowery
Price: Free
Time: Tuesday–Saturday, 11:00 am – 6:00 pm 

—Taylor Dafoe

Through Saturday, April 28

 

12. “Jamea Richmond-Edwards: Fly Girl Fly” at Kravets Wehby
As a child in Detroit, Jamea Richmond-Edwards realized that luxury fashion brands were treaded as status symbols among others in the African American community. In her new work, paint and ink works with cut paper collage, the artist draws on this complex relationship for inspiration, her subjects playing into the existing power structures of the fashion world even as they seek to benefit from them by association.

Location: Kravets Wehby, 521 West 21st Street
Price: Free
Time: Tuesday–Saturday, 11 a.m.–6 p.m.

—Sarah Cascone

Saturday, April 28

13. “Belligerent” at Printed Matter
Artist Jenny Holzer will be at Printed Matter for a book signing event to celebrate a new edition of her publication Belligerent. The event is planned to coincide with a display of her works including etchings, and other merch featuring her iconic truisms, on view through May 2.

Location: Printed Matter, 231 11th Avenue
Price: Free
Time: 5 p.m.–7 p.m.

—Caroline Goldstein 

Saturday, April 28–Sunday, June 17

14. “Yun-Fei Ji: Rumors, Ridicules, and Retributions” at James Cohan 
Drawing on the traditional artistry of China, Yun-Fei Ji creates paintings that integrate the tropes and myths of the past, with illustrations of contemporary issues of political and cultural strife. His use of stacked perspective and flattened-space appear to be examples of conventional Eastern art, yet his work is fully invested in the current state of world affairs.

Location: James Cohan, 291 Grand Street
Price: Free
Time: Opening reception, 6 p.m.–8 p.m.; Tuesday–Saturday, 10 a.m.–6 p.m.

—Caroline Goldstein

Saturday, April 28–Saturday, June 23

15. “Pride & Loss” at Jenkins Johnson Gallery
Visual activist, Zanele Muholi has curated a show featuring the Inkanyiso collective, a group of South African artists and photographers she founded in 2009 to create and disseminate artistic and educational materials about the country’s LGBTQI community, who face the constant threat of discrimination and violence. Thembela Dick, Lerato Dumse, Boitumelo Nkopane, Collen Mfazwe, Thembi Mthembu, Velisa Jara, Lebogang Mashifane, and Muholi herself are among the included artists. Throughout its run, the exhibition will also feature a slew of live performances and events, including a closing celebration on June 16 that aligns with both the NYC Pride week and South African Youth Day.

“Just documenting the existence of LGBTQI individuals can be a subversive act,” notes the exhibition description. “Once, burglars broke into Muholi’s house and stole the hard drives containing her work.  More recently, and violently, a member of the collective was beaten as we organized this exhibition.”

Location: Jenkins Johnson Gallery, 207 Ocean Avenue, Brooklyn
Price: Free
Time: Opening reception, 4 p.m.–7 p.m.; Tuesday–Saturday, 11 a.m.–6 p.m.

—Sarah Cascone

Sunday, April 29–Sunday, May 27

16. “Senses and Perception” at Carole Feuerman Studios
As part of Mana Contemporary’s spring open house, ArtLeadHER has organized an all-women sculpture show for International sculpture day. Curated by Mashonda Tifrere, and presented by Carole Feuerman Sculpture Foundation, the exhibition will include a large-scale installation by Crystal Wagner, who creates vibrant, flowing, organic-looking structures from chicken wire and disposable tablecloths.

Location: Carole Feuerman Studios, Mana Contemporary, 888 Newark Avenue, 4th Floor, Room 488, Jersey City
Price: Free
Time: Opening reception, 2 p.m.–4 p.m.; Monday–Friday, 1 p.m.–6 p.m. or by appointment

—Sarah Cascone

Sunday, April 29–Wednesday, September 5

17. “Marc Lafia: Making Sense” at 1GAP Gallery
At first, Lafia’s new exhibition looks like a sharp left turn from his previous work, which leveraged new media and interactive elements to foreground the ways in which digital culture alters our physical and mental self-conception. His latest body of work instead comes about through old-fashioned assemblage. Lafia uses ordinary materials—fabric, plastic, rubber, and more—to construct colorful, drapey combines, all of which will be installed in the gallery’s windows rather than on the walls. But as the quality and quantity of light streaming through the works changes throughout the day, and as the movement of the earth and the gallery’s visitors gently sets them into motion, the space itself transforms into what writer Daniel Coffeen dubbed a “primal cinema”—and the show connects cleanly with Lafia’s prior concerns.

Location: 1GAP Gallery, One Grand Army Plaza, Brooklyn
Price: Free
Time: Opening reception, 3 p.m.–5 p.m.; Wednesday–Sunday, 11 a.m.–5 p.m.

—Tim Schneider

Sunday, April 29–June 2

18. “Rachel Garrard: Primal Forms” at Signs and Symbols
The inaugural exhibition for Signs and Symbols gallery opens with work by English artist Rachel Garrard, completed over two-months at the Josef and Anni Albers Foundation in Connecticut. The result is a series of canvases painted in muted colors—meditations on nature she encountered during her residency.

Location: 102 Forsyth Street
Price: Free
Time: Opening reception, 6 p.m.–8 p.m.; Wednesday–Saturday, 11 a.m.–6 p.m.

—Caroline Goldstein

Sunday, April 29–ongoing

19. “Only Human” at Mana Contemporary
Mana’s spring open house also marks the opening of “Only Human,” which sees the New Museum’s art and technology incubator, New Inc., launch its collaboration with Nokia’s Bell Labs, marking the return of the phone company’s Experiments in Art and Technology program after 50 years. Former New Inc. fellows Sougwen Chung, Lisa Park, and Hammerstep (Jason Oremus and Garrett Coleman) present new work inspired or powered by Bell Labs technologies.

Location: Mana Contemporary, 888 Newark Avenue, Jersey City
Price: Free
Time: Opening reception, 1 p.m.–7 p.m.; Tuesday–Saturday, tours at 3 p.m.

—Sarah Cascone